Normally punctilious about correcting its own errors, not to mention other people’s, The New York Times used the new year to admit to a mistake that appeared on its front page every day for more than a century.
Yes, folks, Saturday’s Times, dated Jan. 1, 2000, was actually issue No. 51,254, not 51,754.
You hadn’t noticed?
Neither had anyone else, according to the paper, until Aaron Donovan, a 24-year-old news assistant recently “became curious about the numbering,” a task he performs as part of his nightly duties, and “wondered about the potential for self-perpetuating error.”
Using a computer program, Donovan ran the numbers back to issue No. 1 on Sept. 18, 1852, and discovered they added up to 500 fewer. Donovan homed in on Feb. 6, 1898. On that day, a “copy boy” added 1 to 14,499 and came up with 15,000 rather than 14,500.
